While corruption in Congress is nothing new (see: Lincoln), with the rise of modern lobbying things have reached impressive new proportions, as chronicled on OpenSecrets, Maplight, and other well-researched online voter resources.

The fired staffer's name is Derek Khanna, and he turned heads in mid-November when he authored a pro-reform memo [background], which was thoroughly vetted and published by the RSC, a key advisory body to the conservative wing of federal Republican Representatives in Congress.

In his memo, Derek Khanna took issue with the RIAA's traditional rhetoric that piracy is a crime worth punishing with fines of up to $150,000 USD per song. [Image Source: RIAA]

As soon as [the Khanna memo] was published, the MPAA and RIAA apparently went ballistic and hit the phones hard, demanding that the RSC take down the report. They succeeded.

RSC director subsequently complained that the memo had been published without adequate review, denying that the vetting process (which did occur) was sufficient. He essentially bowed the RIAA and MPAA demands, disavowing the Libertarian/reformist memo.

Funded by the music industry, Rep. Blackburn demanded Mr. Khanna be sacked for his comments, which offended her corporate masters. [Image Source: AP]

In the wake of the not-so-invisible hand exerting its influence on the elected officials, Rep. Scalise reportedly successfully pushed the RSC to fire Mr. Khanna, who will not be returning when Congress reconvenes in January.

II. Disavowing the Conservative Wing to Placate Special Interests

The move potentially puts the end to the career in the Republican party of the prominent-tech savvy 24-year-old, who many viewed as among the faces of young conservatism in the party. Active in Republican politics during his undergraduate education at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Mr. Khanna's first official post was working as an advisor to Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.).

Mr. Khanna has international experience, having studied in the Middle East, and was a key advisor to the RSC in cybersecurity with his resume [LinkedIn] citing his interest in "building computers and beta testing software" and experience in "C++, Backtrack, Python, Sql, Java, Dreamweaver/Photoshop, statistical modeling".

The firing represents a key schism in the Republican ranks. After all, Mr. Khanna may be singled out as the sacrificial lamb in the face of RIAA and MPAA wrath, but his sentiments were clearly shared to an extent by fellow staffers who vetted the memo.

In other words, Reps. Scalise and Blackburn may have succeeded in firing one voice of reform, but their actions are dividing the Republican Party from its conservative/reformist backers. In that regard the copyright reform question is perhaps a microcosm of the more macroscopic search for identity and the balance of special interests with principles that is occurring among Republicans on The Hill.

They should be giving incentives for people to want to buy their product, not forcing them to buy it with new laws and regulations. (Failing that, suing them for all that they are worth!)

They need to make it so movies and TV shows are readily available, cheap and easier to access than torrents and provide other goodies to make themselves an alternative to the free copy.Enter: Steam.

Things like Netflix is a good start but again, it's not available across the planet and it's selection is going to be limited and... It doesn't always have the best quality and price point for people... And it's competition isn't any better either.

For example I like HBO TV shows like Band of Brothers, The Pacific, True Blood, Game of thrones... But guess what? However I can't buy it or rent it pretty much anywhere online. The alternative? Pirate it of course.

Mind you, I buy the Blu-ray once it's out, but new discs aren't always guaranteed to work in my Blu Ray player, due to the excessive DRM and the fact I am forever updating the device (Which I would be happy for not to be internet connected). - Talk about not making it easier for a paying consumer.